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 Understanding
dust mites, pet dander and dirt and how to prevent it from
building up in your home
What can you do
about all these invaders and microscopic entities that are
wreaking havoc on your home and health?
If your eyes were as powerful as a
microscope, and you looked at your carpet, mattress, pillows,
upholstery, and curtains, you would be aghast at what you would see. Yet
we sleep on it every night, we sit on it every day, and we let our
children crawl in it! Our world is full of dust mites. A dust mite lives
about two months, and they can double their reproduction every twelve
hours if the conditions are just right. That’s well over a hundred
thousand or more dust mite corpses per year. Each dust mite also
produces up to twenty fecal deposits per day, which equals millions of
deposits a year. This means that after three years of use, about a tenth
of the weight of your mattress and pillow is composed of dust mite fecal
matter.
Dust mites live off dead skin cells. Every few days, the average person
sloughs off millions of dead skin cells. Consequently, dead skin cells
are abundant in your mattress and pillows, as well as in your
upholstery. This makes your home an ideal environment for dust mites.
Dust mites also thrive in the humidity at which most households are
kept. They like the air slightly moist and humid. Most homes offer the
perfect conditions for dust mites to live in.
Another household invader is pet dander. Even if you don’t own a pet,
it’s impossible to avoid pet dander. Pet dander is composed of sloughed
off dead skin cells mixed with saliva, traces of urine, and allergens
from the environment such as pollen and spores. When all this sticks
together, we call it pet dander. It gets tracked in from the outside on
your shoes and ends up in your carpet. You also get it from people who
have pets at home. About 70 percent of American households own pets. If
a person at work who owns a pet brushes up against you by accident,
you’ll get some pet dander. Your children may bring it home or a pet
owner may hug you. Dust mites and pet dander are two of the most potent
allergens for most people. They can trigger asthma and affect overall
health if not taken care of.
Finally, dirt is deadly and abrasive on your carpet. When you walk on
your carpet, whatever is on your shoes or feet is ground into the carpet
fibers. Once it is in there, it will cause the fibers to unwind and
fray. Straggling hairs will then attach themselves to form a mat and
create uneven little clumps in the carpet. This decreases the longevity
of your carpet.
What can you do about all these invaders and microscopic entities that
are wreaking havoc on your home and health? Prevention is the key. A
study conducted at the Florida Solar Energy Center by Subrato Chandra
and David Beal centered on five homes across the U.S. but mainly in
Florida. They found that good cleaning habits and preventive measures
are vital to control these allergens.
Using control groups and scientific data collection principles, they
discovered that homes with poor vacuuming tools (older models with bag
filtration rather than HEPA filters) or schedules that allowed for only
one cleaning a week were much more prone to have significantly higher
levels of dust mites and dander. Those who vacuumed twice a week with a
vacuum that had a HEPA filter, such as the Dyson vacuums, or a
centralized unit housed outside of the home, had lower levels. The
floors, furniture, and mattresses were all vacuumed.
They also found that if a dehumidifier was used in each bedroom, the
levels were much lower. If you own an older home, it’s also recommended
that you have a vacuum with maximum suction capability. Dyson vacuums
work best for collecting mites, dander, and dirt. Over time, these
contaminants become compacted into the deep layers of the carpet nap,
and it takes a vacuum with significant suction power to remove lower-nap
dirt and allergens. It is also recommended that you have your carpet
cleaned professionally once or twice a year. Bed linens should be washed
in hot water every week.
Don’t let your home be invaded any longer! Plan your attack on mites,
dander, and dirt by vacuuming at least twice a week. You won’t be able
to avoid them altogether, but you don’t have to give in without a fight.
Helpful carpet cleaning information:
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